US Politics Mega-thread - Page 9763

On January 24 2018 04:06 ZerOCoolSC2 wrote:

This was probably said during slavery or the holocaust.

On January 24 2018 04:14 LegalLord wrote:
So, I was a bit curious about our sight-unseen executive nominations, so I decided to look into Ben Carson.


www.washingtonpost.com

Well I guess it's not exactly a visibly awful job. Just a mediocre performance consistent across administrations.

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Jeff Sessions was questioned for several hours last week as part of the special counsel investigation, a Justice Department spokeswoman said on Tuesday, and the former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, was interviewed by the office last year, according to two people briefed on the matter.

The meeting with Mr. Sessions marked the first time that investigators for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, are known to have interviewed a member of President Trump’s cabinet.

The interview with Mr. Comey focused on a series of memos he wrote about his interactions with Mr. Trump that unnerved Mr. Comey. In one memo, Mr. Comey said that Mr. Trump had asked him to end the F.B.I.’s investigation into the former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn.

After the president’s request was disclosed, the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, appointed Mr. Mueller as the special counsel to lead the Russia investigation and examine whether the president obstructed justice.

The disclosure about Mr. Comey’s interview came hours after the Justice Department spokeswoman, Sarah Isgur Flores, confirmed that the interview with Mr. Sessions occurred. Mr. Sessions was accompanied by the longtime Washington lawyer Chuck Cooper to the interview.

The attorney general announced in March that he had recused himself from all matters related to the 2016 election, including the Russia inquiry. The disclosure came after it was revealed that Mr. Sessions had not told Congress that he met twice with the Russian ambassador to the United States at the time, Sergey I. Kislyak, during the campaign.

Mr. Sessions, an early supporter of Mr. Trump’s presidential run, had been among a small group of senior campaign and administration officials whom Mr. Mueller had been expected to interview.

Mr. Mueller’s interest in Mr. Sessions shows how the president’s own actions helped prompt a broader inquiry. What began as a Justice Department counterintelligence investigation into Russia’s election interference is now also an examination of whether Mr. Trump tried to obstruct the inquiry, and the nation’s top law enforcement officer is a witness in the case.

For Mr. Mueller, Mr. Sessions is a key witness to two of the major issues he is investigating: the campaign’s possible ties to the Russians and whether the president tried to obstruct the Russia investigation.

Mr. Mueller can question Mr. Sessions about his role as the head of the campaign’s foreign policy team. Mr. Sessions was involved in developing Mr. Trump’s position toward Russia and met with Russian officials, including the ambassador.

Along with Mr. Trump, Mr. Sessions led a March 2016 meeting at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, where one of the campaign’s foreign policy advisers, George Papadopoulos, pitched the idea of a personal meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin. Mr. Papadopoulos plead guilty in October to lying to federal authorities about the nature of his contacts with the Russians and agreed to cooperate with the special counsel’s office.

As attorney general, Mr. Sessions was deeply involved in the firing of the former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, and the president has repeatedly criticized Mr. Sessions publicly and privately for recusing himself from the Russia investigation.

When Mr. Trump learned in March that Mr. Sessions was considering whether to recuse himself, the president had the White House’s top lawyer, Donald F. McGahn II, lobby Mr. Sessions to remain in charge of the Russia investigation.

Mr. Sessions instead followed the guidance of career prosecutors at the Justice Department, who advised him that he should not be involved with the investigation. When Mr. Trump was told of this, the president erupted in anger, saying he needed an attorney general to protect him.

After Mr. Mueller was appointed in May, Mr. Trump again erupted at Mr. Sessions and Mr. Sessions offered to resign. Several days later, Mr. Trump rejected Mr. Sessions’s offer.

Two weeks ago, Mr. Mueller subpoenaed Mr. Trump’s former chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, to testify before a grand jury. Mr. Mueller is expected to forgo the grand jury appearance for now and will have his investigators interview Mr. Bannon in the coming weeks.

On January 24 2018 04:09 ZerOCoolSC2 wrote:

Agreed. Just wanted tongive p6 a bit of shit because I'm bored at work.

On January 24 2018 04:08 KwarK wrote:

Which is why context matters. If you're poor and you have a pregnant wife it's probably okay to take a job selling timeshares for the health insurance or whatever. But it's probably not okay to take a job as a concentration camp guard, even if the SS have great benefits programs.

On January 24 2018 05:50 Logo wrote:
It took awhile, but someone brought up reconciliation for the shutdown. I didn't realize it but the reason the Republicans couldn't use it to keep the government open was because they already used it for the tax bill.

So basically this whole shutdown the Republicans could have averted if they had used their 2018 reconciliation bill for the year to actually reconcile the budge and keep the government open with only 51 votes.


Just shows how bad the dems are at messaging... still... somehow.

On January 24 2018 05:55 IyMoon wrote:


I mean... that does not seem like a good message.

R's cant do it this way because they already used it to do something they all really wanted?

On January 24 2018 05:57 Logo wrote:


"The Rs misused a congressional process and as a result got the government shut down" or "The Rs used budget reconciliation to pass a really unpopular bill which then also caused a government shutdown" seems reasonable messaging?

On January 24 2018 05:59 Plansix wrote:
Yes. Reconciliation can only be used once a fiscal year. And I am not really sure the Democrats have messed this one up. The reality is they only have limited power in the Senate. It sounds like moderate republicans are willing to have a full debate on immigration and pass a bill, but it will likely never get voted on by the House. The harsh reality is that the Dreamer’s fate might have been sealed back on November 8, 2016. The Republicans might be totally willing to let the Dreamers be deported rather than vote on immigration, they are just not willing to say that out loud. And if that is true, there is nothing the Democrats can do in 2018.


Democrats used it first to pass the ACA. That opened up Pandora’s box.

On January 24 2018 05:26 Danglars wrote:
https://twitter.com/tackettdc/status/955893645751840768

Damn, Democrats are learning something.

On January 24 2018 06:01 Logo wrote:



Hypocrisy has never stopped a politician from making a point before. Why now?

On January 24 2018 06:07 GreenHorizons wrote:


I don't think it's what you think it is.

This is more of a "Trumpian" thing where some billionaire is faking it better than they can by just selling people the comforting lie (which they started).

He's got 3 million+ people who signed his petition which is what he was really after in the first place (the mailing list). Democrat politicians are just wary of what seems to be their replacements (wealthy celebs) who are much better at what their roles have become, which is convincing people they want shitty policies that benefit a wealthy few.

I understand the impulse, but I don't think this is the news you think it is.